'Robocop' not guilty

Norman Dennis, Sunderland

12:01AM GMT 16 Feb 2002

SIR - The disproportion between Cleveland Police Authority's descriptions of Det Supt Ray Mallon and the offences he is accused of is staggering (report, Feb. 14). One chief constable says Mallon was "the centre" of an "empire of evil", another that he is "thoroughly evil".

The facts are that, after an outstanding career as a crime-fighter, especially in Hartlepool, he was promoted to Middlesbrough. His career was cut short after a very few months because of allegations against Middlesbrough CID. Most of these allegations long preceded his joining the Middlesbrough force.

A total of 393 allegations against 61 officers were investigated, most of them having nothing whatsoever to do with Mallon's conduct. After investigations costing £4 million in June 2000, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that not a single criminal charge could be brought against any of the officers for any of the alleged offences. Mallon's critics were left with "disciplinary" offences. They reached the high number of 14 only by repetition of the same offence on separate occasions.

All they could amount to would be the single - of course - serious offence of being over-protective of one or two - not 61 - of his own officers. No one has ever even hinted that he himself took any controlled drug (he is teetotal). No one has even hinted that he approved of any of the alleged malpractices of any officer. There has never been any hint of any corruption on his part.

That crime soared in Cleveland after Mallon was sidelined is a fact. That this was because of Mallon "sowing the seeds that allowed criminal behaviour to flourish in Middlesbrough" surely deserves some public award for creative scapegoating.